When the South African runner Caster Semenya won the women’s 800m gold at Rio, her critics renewed the debate about her gender. This New York Times story takes a comprehensive look at the controversy surrounding the athlete. 

Semenya has been through sex tests. Many feminist thinkers abhor them. Quite, frankly, they are as controversial as some of the athletes that have been subjected to them. This beautiful piece in The New York times Magazine looks at the history of sex-testing in sport. It’s got science, sport and history all blended in perfectly. 

Thanks to the scientific and medical communities, there’s been some awareness about transgender people. In January this year, Scientific American Mind dedicated an entire issue to transgender kids. In this piece, journalist Francine Russo digs up studies that have shown that brains of transgender people are somewhat different from those of men and women. Growing up as a transgender kid can be hard. Parents and teachers are confused how to help these youngsters. This recent Proto magazine piece looks at new ways doctors are trying to help these individuals come to terms with their gender situation.

I’m sure you have already read some of the sexist coverage during the Rio Olympics. Want to make sure you didn’t miss anything? This Vox piece has put together most of the examples. A couple of years back, The Atlantic did a fabulous piece that chronicled sexist coverage by TV networks a during the previous Olympics. Moreover, if someone needed tips on how to avoid sexism in their sports coverage, here are some great suggestions from The Guardian.

Last week, I had a lot of fun doing a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) for their Everything Science subreddit. I answered questions – some of them very thoughtful – about the intersection of science and culture and journalism. 

Thank you so much for joining me here on the first issue of Nucleus Mag. It really means the world to me. Nucleus is very much a collaboration between you and me. Your suggestions and ideas will evolve and improve Nucleus in the coming weeks and months. If you want to chat about Nucleus or any of these stories, just reply to this email.

❤ Please help make Nucleus a success by spreading the word with just one click on (1) Twitter (2) Facebook, or (3) via a quick e-mail. Thank you! 

Until next week,

Dinsa Sachan
Freelance Science and Culture Journalist
http://dinsasachan.com/more